Wednesday, November 7, 2007

November 7, 2007 - Rockfeller* (for Rockefeller)

During the 1960s, Governor Nelson Rockefeller displaced 9,000 residents of downtown Albany in order to make room for the new NYS Library and Museum, among many other state offices. This whitewashed wind tunnel of teeming civil servitude (inspired by a visit from Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands and described by art critic Robert Hughes as having a somewhat fascistic aesthetic) is also known as the Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza, not to be confused with the (John D.) Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. There are 27 hits on Rockfeller* in OhioLINK and, although this upper-crust clan is pretty populous, I'm quite sure none of them spell their name that way. "Rocky" served four terms as governor, along with veep to Gerald Ford, and repeatedly ran for president. Although he carved out a successful career in politics, Nelson never ascended to the heights of these other rocky fellers. (Photo of Mount Rushmore from Wikimedia Commons.)

Carol Reid

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